It is one of the most widely recognised gestures in the western world - a hand to the ear, little finger and thumb extended, sometimes with the added flourish of a wiggle.

But as the landline fast becomes a thing of the past, the commonly recognised hand signal for a phone call, as well as many others based on technology, are set to become obsolete, linguists say, as Generation Z simply does not understand what they mean.

Vyv Evans, a professor of linguistics and communication expert, said such gestures that have a specific meaning, known as emblems, are often culturally or generationally specific.

“Emblems that are specific to particular devices will only be recognised by those who are familiar with such devices,” he said.

“As technology changes, they lose their value.”

Similarly, the circular motion used to indicate the winding up or down of a car window, is on its way out.

The tap on the wrist to ask the time or indicate someone is late is also likely to be lost in translation with younger generations who rely solely on mobile phones to tell the time.

And the ubiquitous writing in the air gesture used by diners to show restaurant staff they are ready for the bill will also become a thing of the past as cheque books are eventually consigned to history. 

Dr Evans said: “Younger generations just will not know what these signals are.

“Red phone boxes are all but disappearing from the streets, landlines that you picked up and held in a particular way are rarely used.

“People use smartphones now and they are held very differently.

“Similarly, the traditional way of indicating a film in the game charades, by motioning an old-fashioned reel movie camera, will go the same way.

“As people are no longer exposed to such technology, the emblems associated with them drop out of usage.”

A TikTok video went viral recently after a father in New York showed how his children each held a flat palm to the side of their face to indicate a mobile phone.

“70s, 80s and 90s babies can relate,” Daniel Alvarado said. “This is how you know you’re getting old.”

New emblems introduced by younger generations include the waggle of thumbs to indicate texting.

Adam Schembri, a reader in linguistics at the University of Birmingham, agreed that just like words, emblematic gestures would come and go in time.

“My 18-year-old students understand the landline phone gesture, for example, but the landline is still within their lived experience so they can still make that connection.

“It might be that in the future, when people have no lived experience of these things, that such gestures are used less and less as they become less meaningful. There are undoubtedly gestures that we no longer use that are not understood.”

Dr Schembri said the word holiday, in sign language, had slowly evolved from a sign using the extension of the middle finger, which can now be deemed obscene. 

He said the circular gesture using the thumb and index finger that has traditionally been used to indicate “OK” might also diminish due to its association with racism, as it is now used by white supremicists.

Dr Evans described how gestures worked alongside language to convey additional meaning. 

Whether pointing to your choice of croissant in the bakery, using your forefinger and thumb to indicate a small or a large top up or a simple thumbs up.

“The thing about gestures is that they are culture-specific and so mean different things to different socio-economic or generational groups,” he added.

“It’s a communication system. Subcultures, like gangs, have their own gestures - they have their own meaning in the same way that words do.

“Emblems are changing in response to different communicative needs.”

The gestures that could soon be consigned to history:

A phone call: The imaginary cups held to ear and mouth, the finger rotated in the air and the hand held to the ear with thumb and little finger extended.

Telling the time: A tap on the wrist to gesture towards a watch.

Asking for the bill: Writing in the air to signal to a waiter that you are ready to write or sign a cheque.

Opening a car window: Moving the hand in a circular motion to mimic the winding mechanism.

Film: Moving the arm as if rotating an old-fashioned reel movie camera.

I’m OK: The index finger to thumb circular gesture is now used by white supremacists.

Which common gestures do you think could become obsolete? Tell us in the comments section below